“A good balance of maple and sweetness,” “potent,” “clean,” and “intense,” with “good earthy, mapley notes.” “Lovely,” “very sweet and natural,” with a “perfect consistency, not too thick or thin” and “a rich, mapley aftertaste.” In pie, it was “very mild, but tasted real and satisfying.”

While tasters agreed on our favorite mail-order syrup’s “excellent maple flavor,” described as “intense and complex, well-balanced,” with notes of “whiskey” or “molasses,” a few found it “a bit much” when tasted plain. But this dark syrup shone in pie, earning praise for “very rich, deep” maple flavor.

Tasters found this syrup “clean” and “mild,” with “light maple flavor” that was “pleasantly thin and sweet.” Some described notes of “wood and coffee”; one said it “tastes like trees and mountains.” In pie, it was “mild” and “barely there.”

“A good maple flavor, with thin consistency,” almost “like it wasn’t reduced,” this syrup had a “light body and a slight burned taste,” though it was also deemed “sweet, natural,” and “clearly maple.” A few tasters detected a “slightly acidic” off-note.

Tasters enjoyed the “solid maple flavor” of this contender, but also noted that it was “thin,” “achingly sweet,” and “slightly off-tasting,” with an “astringent” initial flavor and “citrusy” aftertaste.

“Very sugary. Slightly plastic. Maple aftertaste, but weak.” In pie, while a minority of tasters liked its “nice, toasted sweetness,” many complained: “Where’s the maple?” and “Yuck. I can taste the chemicals.” In sum: “What’s the point of being the best of the worst?”

A few tasters liked this syrup’s “honey and vanilla” notes; one fondly quipped: “The taste I grew up with. Straightforward corn syrup laced with maple.” But most comments were less forgiving: “Fake, viscous corn syrup,” with a “fake maple smell” and “fake butter flavor.”

Tasters likened this syrup to “melted candy,” “cheap butterscotch,” and “what a maple-flavored Life Saver would taste like.” One summed it up: “Sweet, thick, vile.” In pie, it was “saccharine sweet,” with “no off-flavors, but not very mapley either.”

The “smooth,” “melted caramel” sweetness of this syrup was inoffensive, but tasters found its “salty, strong artificial butter flavor—like movie-theater popcorn” thoroughly off-putting. In pie, it fared better, but most agreed it was “cloyingly sweet.”

Tasters described this syrup as “super sweet and sloppy, with a vanilla flavor.” They also said it was “thick and buttery, but tastes like corn syrup” and “more sweet than maple.” Its texture was decried as “so thick you could stand a spoon in it,” “like tar,” and “gloppy.”